This invention relates to a collapsible container which is designed to be mounted to a pallet, and particularly to a collapsible container which is designed to collapse and be folded in a flattened configuration above the pallet for storage.
It has always been the common practice in shipping and storage to utilize various containers generally manufactured of corrugated fiberboard which are attached to a pallet. The pallets are generally manufactured of wood which is mounted on skids so that forklifts can approach the pallet in any one of four directions and quickly and easily move the pallet. Such assemblies generally required a carton and pallet, each separate units. This necessitated assembly of the container and mounting it on the pallet for use. A great deal of storage area was taken up if the containers were to be stored for reuse. The containers sometimes were knocked down or destroyed, in which case only the wooden pallets were reused.
Collapsible containers for use with pallets have previously been designed. However, these containers had the side walls or end walls collapsible, while the entire bottom of the container has been either totally affixed to the pallet or completely removable therefrom.
One type of palletized container had the container and pallet both made from corrugated fiberboard or the like with the pallet formed from the same blank as the container. Examples can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,026,015 to Severn and U.S. Pat. No. 3,519,190 to Achermann et al. Both of these patents illustrate a container having a pallet integrally formed with the container and able to be knocked down or folded for storage. Such containers have a serious disadvantage in that one purpose of a palletized container is to contain bulky or heavy objects with the entire pallet and container capable of being moved by generally available lift trucks having forks extending from the front. A corrugated fiberboard pallet can easily be pierced by the forks of the lift truck and has limited strength and durability.
Another disadvantage of containers which have a pallet as a part thereof is that they require a great deal of assembly time and frequently more than one person to assemble them. This severely lessens their desirability for use. Furthermore, the palletized containers having an integrally formed pallet can generally be approached with a forklift from only two sides. This is an undesirable feature in a crowded warehouse where it is, at times, necessary to be able to approach a pallet from any one of four directions. Most commercially available pallets have this capability and operators of lift trucks have become accustomed to this characteristic.
Another container which makes use of a standard pallet is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,846 to Williams. Although a standard pallet is used, the container is floorless and relies on a floor formed separately and attached to the pallet. This can result in a weakened container. The bottom floor generally adds structural support to the containers by keeping the side walls or end walls of the container from bulging outward and separating from the floor. The Williams design does not provide for this support and the side walls can separate from the floor.
A last design which uses a standard pallet is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,743,166 and 3,949,874, both issued to Heavner. In both of the Heavner patents the container is hingedly connected along one edge to an edge of a pallet. The container pivots around this edge either to a usable or storage position. A problem with the design shown in the '166 patent is that the surface area taken up by the container in the stored position is more than when in the opened position. This is due to the container pivoting away from the top of the pallet and thus takes almost twice the opened amount of surface area for storage. Thus, although the container is collapsed and takes less than the height which the assembled container takes, the storage configuration may still be unacceptable. Also, the Heavner design requires substantial time, effort and manpower to assemble the carton due to the numerous folds which must be made to assemble the completed carton.
In all of the prior art containers utilizing pallets, the pallets are either stored separately or, if they are of a unitary structure, they are of a combined container and corrugated fiberboard pallet design. The corrugated fiberboard pallets do not have the strength or access to forklifts that the conventionally designed wooden pallets have. Another disadvantage is that the corrugated fiberboard palletized unitary designs require substantial assembly time and manpower before they can be used, or knocked down if they are to be stored for reuse. Furthermore, the storage configuration of prior devices still requires a substantial amount of surface area to store the collapsed cartons.